According to England’s Premier Clubs, a new report from the firm, total tax receipts paid by the clubs spiralled to Pounds 251m during the 1999/00 season, compared with just POunds 153m in 1997/98.

PAYE, national insurance, VAT and corporation tax payments have rocketed due to spiralling player wages and an increase in the income of the Premier League to Pounds 772m, 15% more than the previous year.

Jason Zillwood, a senior manager at D&T Sport, said: ‘Corporation tax is not a large factor in the increased bill, but certainly NI, which is paid by both the clubs and the players, certainly is. The government is certainly earning a significant sum from football as an industry.’

The 1999/2000 season also saw football players treated as intangible assets for the first time due to the introduction of FRS10 last March.

It requires clubs to show purchased players as assets on their balance sheets, and to amortise their transfer fees across the length of the player’s contract rather than writing them off against that year’s profits.

Zillwood added the introduction of FRS10 had made clubs look more profitable as it ‘brought forward the recognition of profits on player sales’ while depreciation costs were to be spread over the length of a player’s contract.

But home-grown players are not shown as assets, giving clubs a financial incentive to wheel and deal.

Operating results in the Premier League varied with Manchester Utd showing a Pounds 29.1m profit, while Liverpool showed a Pounds 7.8m loss.

The firm also warned clubs that despite large increases in average turnover to Pounds 38.6m, players’ wages were increasing faster and increasing as a percentage. The average Premier League footballer earned Pounds 400,000 during the 1999/2000 season.